Coconut oil or copra oil once had a bad rap for potentially clogging the arteries. However, research has later found that there are far more health and beauty benefits to coconut oil than originally thought. For this reason, I wanted to share just some coconut oil benefits with you that you don’t want to miss out on.
To begin with, I’ll start with what this particular oil can do for your heart. Even though coconut oil is 90% saturated fat that raises your LDL cholesterol, which is the bad cholesterol, you should not be scared off. A 2020 study has shown that coconut oil substantially increased HDL (good cholesterol) and lowered LDL (bad cholesterol) much better than animal or plant oils for benefits.
Coconut oil also has particular fatty acids, which are medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) that could help speed up the body’s metabolism. Therefore, if you are trying to lose weight those fatty acids coconut oil benefits are worth exploring. The only problem is that you don’t want to overdo because each tablespoon of coconut oil has 120 calories.
The health benefits of coconut oil can extend to your mouth and dental health. The reason it can help is due once again to that specific chain of medium triglycerides that make up lauric acid, which is a powerful weapon against bacteria to fight tooth decay, gum disease or foul breath.
As to coconut oil benefits for beauty, there are so many ways this one oil can keep your skin, hair and even nails radiant and well cared for. For starters, I highly recommend using it as a DIY hair conditioner to return softness and shine. By the way, using some coconut oil in your diet can help improve aging hair to reverse the dullness and lack of bounce.
If you’re having a bad hair day and lots of frizz, a little dab of coconut oil that you work into your hair can save the day. It gives that needed bit of extra control and shine.
Coconut oil is also an amazing moisturizer. Though you rub some into your wet skin for your body or face, I use it in many of my DIY beauty recipes. One that I really love is this homemade face mask for dry skin to boost skin health.
Try rubbing some coconut oil into cuticles makes excellent cuticle cream. Try it on your dry, suffering nails and see the difference.
Have you ever run out of makeup remover at the last minute? Coconut oil, once again, can come to your rescue to help dislodge and disinfect due to its antibacterial properties with what is on your face. You can use cotton balls or tissues to wipe away the makeup first before washing with soap and water. Usually, I follow with a toner to see if anything remains on the cotton ball. Your skin feels soft and moisturized. Believe it or not, you can even remove eye makeup, including waterproof with coconut oil.
Dry, chapped lips need not suffer a moment longer for those times that you run out of your lip balm or chap stick. All you need to do is transfer a little of the coconut oil into a small clean jar or one from a former lip balm and keep in your refrigerator. The coconut oil hardens enough for just dabbing over your hurting lips. You’ll love the end results and relief it brings.
One other thing about coconut oil that you should know is that refined coconut oil has less of the sweet scent due to the manufacturing process. On the other hand, virgin coconut oil has the stronger coconut scent and best benefits for keeping its nutrients intact. You might want to keep this in mind when shopping.
Here’s a cheer for all the good benefits that coconut oil has to offer once you incorporate it into your life.
